Although the cherry tomatoes in my garden have been producing fabulously, the regular tomatoes haven’t given me a single fruit. At this point all I can do is fantasize about putting up yummy whole tomatoes. So, for those of you who are more fortunate, here’s a quick tutorial on putting up summer ‘maters.
There are three ways to can whole tomatoes; raw pack (no added liquid), raw pack (in water), and Hot Pack Method (in water). For the beginning canner, the Hot Pack Method is safest. Here’s what you will need:
Tomatoes Choose disease free, vine ripened, firm tomatoes. Green tomatoes are more tart but fine, too.
Boiling water bath canner with rack
Tea kettle to add boiling water if necessary
Large Saucepan
Bottled Lemon Juice necessary to add acid (which varies from tomato to tomato)
Canning Salt
Pint canning jars Check each jar before using for any cracks or chips.
Slotted Spoon
Funnel
Jar lifter
Towel for resting processed jars
OK is everything together? Let’s go!
- First, let’s get those jars & lids sterilized. I like to do this in my dishwasher on hot water/heated dry setting. That way they stay hot in the dishwasher until I’m ready to fill them. If you choose to sterilize the jars and lids in your canner, you will want to put the lids in a lid rack or use a lid wand so you aren’t spending a lot of time fishing for them. Remember don’t boil the lids for longer than the manufacturer recommends, as boiling too long may break down your seals.
- Fill your pans with water, so they can begin to boil. You’ll want the saucepan and canner kettle to be a little over half full. Set them to high. All that water takes a while to come to the boil. You can hold off a bit on starting your teakettle of extra water since it will heat much more quickly.
- Prep your tomatoes. First wash them, then using your slotted spoon, dip them no more than three at a time in the saucepan’s boiling water for about one minute or until the skins split. Immediately dip them in cold water, slip off the skins and remove the cores. When they are all peeled and cored, discard the water from the saucepan.
- Place the skinned, cored tomatoes in the empty saucepan and add just enough fresh water to cover. Bring to a boil and boil gently for 5 minutes.
- Set out your hot, sterilized jars for filling. To each jar add 1/2 teaspoon of salt for flavor and 1Tablespoon of bottled lemon juice. Don’t skip the lemon juice!
- Start your teakettle.
- Using your slotted spoon, pack your hot tomatoes into the jars, leaving 1/2″ of headspace. Next fill with cooking liquid to 1/2″ headspace.
- Go around the sides of your jars with a non metallic instrument to release any trapped air bubbles. You can use a wooden spoon handle, chopstick, rubber spatula, or plastic picnic knife. Top up the liquid to 1/2″ headspace if necessary. Wipe the rims with a clean, damp paper towel. Cap with the sterilised lids and rings.
- Using your jar lifter and being careful to keep your jars upright, place each in the water bath canner. Try not to let the jars touch one another.
- Once they are all in place, add enough boiling water from the teakettle to the canner so the jars are covered by at least 2″ of water. Cover with a tight fitting lid.
- When the water returns to a full boil, start your timer. Process for 40 minutes.* Note: If the water stops boiling at any time during the process, turn up the heat, bring back to a vigorous boil, and reset the timer to 40 minutes. If necessary, you can add more boiling water from your teakettle during processing to keep the jars covered.
- Once the jars have processed uninterrupted for the full 40 minutes, turn off the heat and remove the canner kettle lid.
- Using a jar lifter, remove the jars one at a time. Be careful not to tilt them. They aren’t sealed yet! Place them on a tea towel to cool, being sure to leave at least an inch between jars. Now here’s the important part: Leave the jars undisturbed overnight! Do not tighten the lids or push down the center of the lid or pick up jars or move them in any way.
- Test your seals the next day
- Store your tomatoes without the lid rings (to prevent rust), in a cool dark place. They will keep for up to one year.
*High altitudes require longer processing times. E-mail me if you need an alternate time where you live.
13 responses so far ↓
1
Kathy
// Jul 15, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I got one regular tomato (from 5-6 plants) and many cherry tomatoes from 2 plants. What’s up with that? I made my picante sauce with tomatoes from East Texas. It is so hot I felt like Homer Simpson after he ate the pepper and went on a mysterious journey. (But I just remembered that you don’t find the charm in Homer that I do.)
Kathys last blog post..
2
kristen
// Jul 16, 2008 at 9:55 am
Someday, I WILL learn to can. It has that back to basics appeal that I love. Of course, I better get the knack of a garden first!
3
kristen
// Jul 16, 2008 at 11:17 am
Thanks for the comment on my blog. To get free samples try a freebie forum. I like bigbigforums.com . I also link to quite a few in my blogging!
4
Hen
// Jul 16, 2008 at 11:29 am
Nothing…not a sausage…well not a tomato actually - this may result from ignoring them / drying out / slugs / neglet?
I failed!
Hens last blog post..Family Portraits
5
Amanda
// Jul 16, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Hi! How funny, we got around 100 Romas this week from 8 plants, but no ripe cherries yet! I canned our tomatoes for the first time on Sunday, and canned our peaches for the second time on Monday.
Love your blog!
Amandas last blog post..Works for Me Wednesday: Chore Wars
6
Green Girl
// Jul 16, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I’ve never canned…but your directions are so specific that I think you gave me courage.
Green Girls last blog post..General Awesomeness
7
Audra Krell
// Jul 17, 2008 at 1:46 am
This isn’t something I see myself doing anytime soon, but you never know! It was a very interesting read and I thank you for taking the time to post all the information!
Audra Krells last blog post..Watercooler Wednesday (No Air)
8
Janet
// Jul 17, 2008 at 9:02 am
Our tomatoes don’t have the first blossom either, but we only have 6 plants, so we may not get enough to can.
9
susie
// Jul 18, 2008 at 8:24 am
HI- I just wanted to drop you a line to say that I was here. I love your blog design - did you do it yourself? Also wanted to ask you about pickles. I am about to do some dill style - do you have a good recipe?
susies last blog post..Theme Thursday - UnRefined
10
schmutzie
// Jul 18, 2008 at 9:44 am
You are being featured on Five Star Friday:
http://www.fivestarfriday.com/2008/07/five-star-friday-edition-15.html
schmutzies last blog post..50×365 #300: Mr. Shih
11
Ree
// Jul 18, 2008 at 9:02 pm
You realize I’m completely in awe of your abilities and have decided to hire you when Mr. Hot plows up the entire yard to plant food. He’s decided that food costs are going to rise so much we’ll need to grow our own, and the only way I’ll be able to eat in the winter is to can.
Oh, and you do know how to distill vodka, right?
Rees last blog post..Haiku Friday - Shopping Plans
12
honeywine
// Jul 20, 2008 at 7:26 pm
I just did my first hot-pack canning a few weeks ago (zucchini crisp pie filling). I hadn’t done it since I was a kid. It’s a bit scary the first time. I remember all the old horror stories about jars exploding. But mine seem to have sealed well (knock on wood).
honeywines last blog post..High colonics to go
13
Eileen
// Sep 7, 2009 at 8:43 am
I have a question about canning tomatoes. I followed the recipe and processed for 40 minutes. All the lids popped and all seemed well. Then with closer inspection a few of the quarts had a sticky film on the outside. I checked the seals again using your method to assure each jar was indeed sealed and again all was well. What is the sticky film? This never happened to the jams I make but, this is the first time I canned tomatoes.
Another question, the tomatoes in the jar floated to the top and left a golden liquid on the bottom third of the jar. After turning each jar the inside was mixed and has not separated. Is this normal? Thanks for your time and energy replying to my questions! I love your site! Eileen
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